Chasing Dragons
by Jayniebear321
Summary: Sequel to Snow Day. Natsu and Lucy take a mission investigating a possible dragon sighting in a town far from Magnolia. What follows is a journey of a life time. Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza Lots of fluffs.
1. Beginning the Mission

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, I've been extremely busy with work and Christmas stuff. It looks like Snow Day is going to continue further, but instead of being in the same story it is going to be in a sequel and this is the first chapter of the sequel. As always thank you for all your support, reviews, encouragement, advice, etc. Please keep it coming, I like to hear what you guys think. I don't own anything everything goes to Hiro Mashima. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

It was the day after Christmas and Lucy, Happy, and Natsu were on a train headed for a far off village called Hakensdale. The train ride itself was five hours in good weather, but due to all of the recent snow, the ride was slow goings.

"Ugggg….how close are we to the village?" Natsu moaned. He was looking very green and had his head resting on Lucy's lap, trying to steady himself.

"We are a little over halfway there, but we still have some ways to go." Lucy informed him while playing with his hair, hoping to sooth him into sleep so that he had some relief from his motion sickness.

"But we've been traveling for four hours now!" Natsu whined. "Shouldn't we be almost there by now?"

"With all the bad weather, the trains are running slow and it doesn't help that the village we are traveling to is kinda out of the way. I'm surprised that we can take a train all the way there at all. Why don't you try to get some sleep? That might help you feel better."

"I'll…"Natsu was cut off by a gag, after he composed himself a bit he continued. "I'll give it my best shot."

"Let me know if I can do anything to help you." Lucy offered.

"Could you keep playing with my hair and kneading my head? That is helping a lot." Natsu looked up at her and smiled.

"Of course." She smiled back at him. "Now try to get some sleep." She kissed his forehead and he closed his eyes. Much to her happiness, he began to snore after ten minutes.

"You like him!" Happy cooed quietly, doing his best not to wake his sick friend.

"Yes I do." Lucy smiled. It felt so good to admit this out loud, but to be honest, nothing much has changed yet except for the exchange of kisses every so often. Granted, they barely had been dating a day, but it was comforting to see that they were still so easy together now that they were a "thing". Even before yesterday's events, Lucy would have done this for Natsu if he would have asked her to. Lucy looked down at Natsu's sleeping form and felt her heart leap. She was thrilled and now they were currently on their way possibly find Igneel. The rocking of the train began to sooth her too, and eventually, Lucy gave in to her drooping eyelids and fell asleep.

After what felt like minutes later, Lucy woke to an announcement over the intercom that the train had arrived at the Hakensdale station. She looked over to find that both of her companions had fallen asleep too. Lucy gently nudged Natsu and Happy awake, helped grab what little luggage they had brought with them, and lead her teammates off of the train.

Now that Natsu was no longer on a moving vehicle, he was bouncing off the walls with energy and excitement. He kept looking all around them as they walked to the client's house to accept the job. Lucy could see how excited he was to be in a new place, to see the shops, smell the food and possibly find his father. Needless to say, Happy was following his lead and exploring as they went, careful not to get lost. Soon they arrived at the client's house and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Lucy called. "We are members of the Fairy Tail guild here to accept a job about a possible dragon living in some caves near the village."

After a moment of hesitation, the door opened to reveal a short, plump man with grayish-purple hair.

"Well hello there! I am Mayor Plum. You arrived just in time, please come in." Mayor Plum stepped aside and held the door for them to enter. He led them down a hall way into what looked like a study. "Please sit." He motioned to some chairs. "Can I get either of you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water?"

"No thank you Mayor Plum." Lucy declined politely and they Mayor sat down. "Can you tell us when the trouble began Mr. Mayor?"

"It was about two weeks ago. One of our farmers said he had seen smoke coming from one of the caves on the outskirts of town. He assumed it was some kids playing in the caves and didn't think anything of it, but after he kept seeing smoke coming out of the caves for a few days he went up to investigate what was going on. He wasn't sure if someone was injured and stuck in the caves, if some dark guild had moved into the area, or what was going on, so he decided to investigate. Supposedly when he got to the outside of the cave, he heard a low rumbling and felt an intense heat coming from the cave. The farmer went into the cave and he only got about 20 feet in before he saw a dragon. Or so he said." The Mayor huffed and then sighed.

"We all thought the farmer had lost it, but he insisted on what he saw and wouldn't shut up about it. So I had the farmer lead a couple of the town's soldiers to the cave to look into what was going on. When they got there they reported the same abnormal phenomenon. The soldiers went into the cave and came face to face with the dragon that the farmer was going on about. Luckly, my soldiers made it out safety and even got a couple shot in on the dragon, but since then we've had to ban any farming that took my people to close to the caves. My town depends on farmed crops to make a living and if we can't farm, my people will starve."  
>The Mayor all but pleaded to the three of them. "Can you help us get rid of the dragon?"<p>

Before Lucy could even cut in to accept his plea Natsu stood up and got really close to the Mayor.

"We will take the job, but only on certain conditions. One: we just have to get rid of the dragon, in other words, we have to get it out of the area. We will only kill it if we have to. Two: we go on this mission alone, other than having someone lead us to the cave. Three: unless given the command by us, you will not attack the dragon. Am I clear, Mr. Mayor?" Natsu nearly shouted at the end causing the Mayor to cower. Lucy was confused on why Natsu was so angry, but she allowed him to take care of this, after all, he knew the most about dragons between the two of them.

"Yes, sir." The Mayor squeaked.

"Good. Then we accept the job. Come one Luce. Let's go." Natsu reached for Lucy's hand so they can leave, but Lucy stopped him to bring up her own questions for the Mayor.

"Before we leave, we need to know the name of the farmer and where we can find him. Can you give us that information? Also can we speak to the soldiers who were sent to the cave that day?"

"Yes, you can speak to anyone you need to and can access whatever information you need. Just please help us get rid of this dragon." The Mayor pleaded again as he wrote down the contact information about the farmer and the soldiers.

"We will." Lucy stood and shook the Mayor's hand. "Thank you for all you help sir. We will let you know if we need anything else."

"No problem. Good Luck." The Mayor responded, but then shrunk back from Natsu's glare.

As soon as they were out of the Mayor's house and out of ear shot Lucy then turned to Natsu.

"Ok, what's up? What happened that you were so harsh to the Mayor?" Lucy asked, doing her best to be patient and understanding with him.

"They attacked a dragon who was living peacefully until some nosy people began bothering it. It could be Igneel that they attacked. The dragon I knew would not have tried to hurt people, and I don't think Metalicana or Grandeeney would have tried to hurt someone either. It makes me angry." Natsu's hands were clenched and he glared at the ground. He only began to relax when Lucy put her arm on his shoulder to calm him.

"It's ok. I understand. That's why I got the information about the people involved. I want to ask them what happened. Not only to try and figure out who the dragon is, but to get a description and so that we are prepared for whatever comes our way." Lucy took his hand and squeezed it. "It will be ok. Why don't we get dinner and find an inn since it's getting late. We can start our investigation tomorrow."

Natsu smiled at Lucy and nodded.

"That's a good idea. Let's go get food Luce!"

Later that night, after checking into an inn and eating, Natsu and Happy fell asleep quickly, but Lucy wasn't so fortunate. She was kept awake with thoughts about what they were about to possibly face. _What if there is no dragon, but an illusion created by a dark guild? What if it is a dragon? What if it isn't Igneel, but a malevolent dragon? What if it is Igneel, but he is no longer the kind dragon who had raised Natsu?_

So many thoughts bounced around her head, and she couldn't tell Natsu any of them. As it is he had his hopes set so high, that Lucy couldn't bear the thought of hurting him with her fears. She could only have faith that no matter what came their way, they would be able to get through it. Finally, after hours of tossing and turning, Lucy fell into a worried sleep.


	2. To The Caves

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, work has kept me busy plus the holiday so…yeah. Here is the newest chapter. Feel free to review with ideas, thoughts, criticisms, etc. (please, please, _please_ let me know if the characters are too ooc, I'm still learning and don't want to screw up or disappoint) As always Hiro Mashima is the man who owns Fairy Tail. Hopefully he won't be too cruel with how the manga is going….anyway, enjoy! Oh and Happy New Year!

Morning arrived too soon for Lucy's happiness. She yawned and stretched, still half asleep when she noticed that the bed felt cold for some reason. She opened her eyes and noticed that her personal space heater was no longer in bed with her. Lucy sat up with a start and was beginning to panic when she heard laughter from across the room. She looked up and saw Natsu sitting at the table in the middle of their room.

"Good morning Luce!" Natsu chuckled, standing up and walking towards the bed. "You were really out this morning! It was really cute."

"Except for the snoring." Happy chimed in. "I couldn't sleep with all the noise."

"Shut it cat!" Lucy snapped. She yawned again and rubbed her eyes. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I guess I was just tired. Did you guys eat yet?"

"Yeah, we were starving so we went down to breakfast, but we did bring some back for you." Natsu pointed at the plate on the table.

"Thank you guys." Lucy climbed out of bed, stretched, and sat down at the table to eat. "The fish is really good!"

"I know, I wanted to eat more, but Natsu wouldn't let me." Happy whined with is mouth watering.

"You had like ten fish already, if you ate anymore you wouldn't have been able to move." Natsu pointed out causing Happy to pout. Natsu rolled his eyes. "So…How do we want to start this investigation?"

"I think we should talk to the farmer and the soldiers to find out what happened straight from them. After that we could go to the cave and see if there are any clues or signs that a dragon has been there."

"Do we have to talk to those jerks?" Natsu grumbled. "They attacked that dragon with no questions asked. How do we know that they aren't a bunch of dragon slayers who've found a dragon that is too strong for them?"

"We know that they aren't dragon slayers because the Mayor agreed that we don't have to kill the dragon. He just wants out of the area so his town can continue to survive."

"I don't know Lucy…one thing I learned from Igneel is that a dragon is easiest to kill when it's out in the open." Natsu replied darkly. "That's why Igneel would stick close to caves and closed off spaces when I lived with him. He always made sure that he could never be surprised."

Lucy took his hand and squeezed it.

"Don't worry Natsu. Whoever this dragon is, we will make sure that they will be protected." She smiled at him. "It's us we're talking about. We are part of the strongest team in Fairy Tail, we can handle anything."

"You're right, Lucy. I didn't mean to doubt anything, it's just I don't trust these people. They give me a bad vibe."

"It's ok. I don't like them either, but we have to work with them to find out what's going on. All we have to do is ask them some questions and we'll be on our way to investigate the caves." Lucy finished her breakfast and stood up. "So are we ready to go dragon searching?"

"Aye, let's start looking! Just like old times, huh Happy?"Natsu jumped up and was running out the door with Happy.

"Aye!"

"Wait, I still have to get dressed." Lucy yelled after them climbing out of the bed.

Natsu poked his head back into their room.

"No you don't, I think you look fine in what you're wearing now." Natsu grinned and pointed at her very light and thin pajamas. "What do you think Happy?"

"Aye!"

Natsu came into the room, picked up Lucy, and started carrying her out of the room over his shoulder.

"Natsu Dragneel, put me down right now." She started kicking and laughing. "I swear I'll have Loke kick your ass. Who do you think I am? Gray" He continued to walk towards the door. "I summon the…"

Natsu put her down and started laughing.

"Easy there weirdo. You know I wouldn't do that to you. Get changed, we'll meet you downstairs at the bar." Natsu kissed her forehead and left the room.

She shook her head after him.

"What a dork, but he's my dork."

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy walked through town until the found their way to the fort and bunkers where the soldiers stayed. They were greeted by the Captain.

"Welcome, wizards." The Captain shook their hands. "From what I understand, you are here to ask some questions about the dragon incident."

"That's right. Could we meet with the soldiers who were present?"

"Of course. Please follow me." He lead the trio through the fort and into a large room where there was a soldier waiting for them at a table. "Please sit." He said gesturing to the open seats across the table from the soldier as he took his place next to his man. "Ask away."

"When did you first start hearing about a dragon living in the caves?" Lucy asked.

"About two weeks ago, some loony farmer started yelling about a dragon near his farm. We didn't think anything of it, but our "wonderful" mayor decided to have us look into it to avoid hysteria in the village." The soldier grumbled.

"So you didn't believe him?"

"Of course not! Who in the right mind would? But he was telling the truth." He shuddered. "I've never been so scared in my life."

"What did you see?" Natsu cut in. "What did the dragon look like?"

"I didn't really anything other than the flames that were being shot past my head." The soldier shot back.

"Think as hard as you can. This information could be really important for us to get the dragon to leave." Lucy replied.

"Ya aren't going to be able to get it to leave, the only option is to kill…" The soldier was stopped by a fist slamming on the table.

"We are not going to injure the dragon unless we have to, if it even is a dragon." Natsu snapped. Lucy put her hand on his arm to calm him.

"We aren't killing anything sir. Please think back." Lucy asked politely.

The soldier mumbled something along the lines of "soft-hearted civilians" and "not knowing nothing about the real world" but closed his eyes to focus on the memory.

"I believe the dragon was red with black streaks." He opened his eyes. "Like I said, it was hard to see with the flames being shot at us, but if anyone knows it would be the farmer."

"Do you know if you injured the dragon during your escape?" Lucy asked, causing Natsu to grunt.

"We threw a couple spears at it, but I don't think they connected." The soldier shrugged. "We were trying to protect ourselves." He looked pointedly at Natsu who looked right back.

"We understand. Thank you for all of your help." Lucy stood and offered her hand to the soldier to shake. "One more question before we leave, were there any other soldiers with you when you went to investigate?"

"No, it was only me and the Captain. I'm a new recruit so they sent me to deal with what we thought was a joke." The soldier shook his head. "No disrespect meant, Captain." The Soldier quickly added seeing the Captain's disapproving look.

"To be honest, you're not wrong soldier. The only reason I was sent along was so that the people saw that the Mayor was putting one of his best people on the case." The Captain sighed. "Anyway, if that's everything, I will escort you out of the bunker and to the famer's house if you'd like."

"We appreciate the offer, but once we leave here we should be fine to get to the farmer's place." Lucy stood with the Captain. "Thank you for everything. You've been very helpful."

"Anytime. Now please this way…."

"Well that was helpful." Grumbled Natsu as they climbed the hill to the farm.

"I know," Lucy sighed, "I didn't think we'd get much information from the soldiers anyway. They were attacked as soon as they entered the cave, so I didn't think they saw much. I hope the famer saw more. Did you take anything from the description of the dragon?"

"No, it doesn't sound like Igneel, but he may not have seen the dragon clearly. Even if it is some other dragon, it can still lead us to my dad or any of the other dragon slayer's parents." Natsu reasoned.

"Good point."

They reached the top of the hill and were able to see the landscape around them. Behind them, the village looked even smaller than it was, while in front of them farms stretched out for a few miles until they met the rock forms that had to make up the caves. If they weren't in the middle of a mission, it would have made a great spot for a picnic. If Erza was along, she would have been thrilled. They scanned the landscape until they spotted a small cottage at the bottom of the hill.

"That must be it." Lucy reasoned. "Let's see what he has to say about all of this."

They quickly walked down the hill and approached the cottage. They knocked at the door, after a few seconds of banging, an older man opened the door.

"What do you want?" The man asked sharply.

"Hi, we're wizards investigating the possible dragon living in the caves. I'm Lucy, and this is Natsu and Happy. Can we ask you a few questions Mr.?" Lucy trailed off realizing that all this time, no one has ever mentioned the farmer's name.

"The names Todd. No need for that mister stuff, just call me Todd. You said you're here about the dragon?" the man asked.

"Yes, we were hoping that we could ask you about it." Lucy replied.

"Of course. Finally, someone who believes me. Those soldiers believe me now, don't they." The man started rambling. "Everyone thought I was crazy, but I was telling the truth. See, see. They all called me a fool…"

At Todd continued his angry rant, Lucy and Natsu exchanged a look. Apparently the man had spent too much time in the sun.

"Why don't we start from the beginning Todd?" Natsu asked, silencing the man. "What did you see?"

"About two and a half weeks ago I saw smoke coming from the caves at the edge of my land. I thought it was just a group of nomads moving through, but when the smoke kept appearing after almost a week I decided to go check out the source." Todd replied.

"Did anyone come with you?" Lucy asked.

"No, I live alone and my sons think I'm insane so they don't bother with me." Todd looked away.

"What did you see when you entered the cave?" Lucy pressed on.

"Not much at first, it was really dark, but I was about 20 feet in when I rounded a turn and was face to face with a large, red fire dragon. The dragon had green eyes, and black scales mixed in with the red, so that it looked like it had streaks of black. If I wasn't so scared I would have thought it to be a handsome dragon." Todd shuddered.

"How did it react when it saw you?" Natsu asked.

"It just looked at me. It was just as surprised to see me as I was to see it. It opened up its mouth, I don't know if it wanted to eat me, was yawning or what, but when I saw those teeth, I turned tail and ran. I ran straight into the village to warn every one of the dragon." The old man was trembling from the memory. "No one listened to me at first, but eventually the mayor asked me to lead two soldiers to the caves so they could look into it. When we came back to the cave, the dragon was ready for us. It blew fire at us and chased us out of there."

"Do any of you do something to the dragon to warrant the fire breath?" Natsu asked hotly.

"No, but the weird thing is, the dragon only blew fire at us while we were facing it in the cave. It didn't pursue, like the stories normally say." Todd scratches his head. "Either way, I have no wish to go back in there, but if you want, I'll lead you to the right cave."

"That would be wonderful if you could. We won't make you go into the cave, even if you point us in the right direction, we would be happy." Lucy said gently.

"It's no problem. I depend on farming to stay alive so the sooner the dragon situation is figured out the better." Todd closed his door and led them away from the house and across his fields towards the rocky outcrop. "I don't think the dragon means harm, it seems different from the stories, but it's still terrifying."

"Finally, one of you people agree with me!" Natsu exclaimed happily, while putting his arm around the old man to show comradery. "You're a good man Todd."

"Get off of me, ya weirdo!" Todd yelled while pushing Natsu away. "Keep it up and I'll leave yas here. The soldiers were armed pretty heavily and we probably scared it. As long as it stays away from me, I don't care what it does."

"That's how we feel too." Lucy replied gently. They walked on in silence until the hit the outcrop.

"This is as far as I go. Follow the path up the rocks and it'll lead you to a group of caves. The last time I saw, the smoke was coming out of the middle cave, but just look for any signs of smoke or fire." Todd stepped back so they could climb the path. "Good luck, all of you."

"Thank you." Natsu said shaking the man's hand. Todd nodded to them and started back towards his cottage.

"Well, ready to hit the caves and play some hide and seek with a dragon?" Natsu asked with a laugh.

"Let's do this." Lucy replied. They fist bumped and began their climb.


	3. Vlad the Dragon

Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long, work sucks, but life goes on. Here is the next chapter. I plan on releasing chapters on a more regular basis now that I'm going back to school. It will probably be once a week and the day will depend on which day gives me the most free time. Anyway, as always, all credit goes to Hiro Mashima. He is a great guy, even though he loves ripping our hearts out like an angry Mr. Gold. Feel free to send in suggestions, comments, etc. I like hearing from you guys, you make me smile. Enjoy!

Natsu and Lucy climbed the path and made it to a circular clearing. Around the edge of the clearing stood the caves. They cautiously started into the center of the circle. Subtle signs of human habitation were able to be found around the area. Scorch marks were seen on the outside walls of the caves along with crude pieces of metal that looked like torch holders. Small bits of clay pot were scattered around the clearing along with bone chip from what could have been primitive tools.

"What is this place?" asked Lucy in awe, bending down to pick up a piece of pottery. "This is incredible."

"I don't know." Natsu replied, "It looks like it could have been a camp at one point in time. This could be the early version of Hakendale. We can ask more about it when we get back into town, but for right now we should probably look for that dragon."

"Right." Lucy straightened, and smiled. "My bad, it's just really cool here, that's all. So which cave is it in?"

"He said it's the middle cave, but we are standing in a circle." Natsu scratched his head. "So which one would be considered the middle?"

"How about we try the cave that is directly across from the entrance of the clearing. That could be considered the middle." Lucy pointed out.

"Good idea. Come on!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm and practically dragged her to the entrance to the middle cave. He created a fire in the palm of his hand and led the way into the darkness. The fire created just enough light to see what was just beyond the team as they moved slowly doing their best to keep an eye on their surroundings. Suddenly Natsu stopped and put his hand back in front of Lucy to stop her.

"Did you hear that?" Natsu asked.

"Hear what?" Lucy replied with a shiver. "You better not be messing with me Natsu."

"I'm not. I thought I heard heavy breathing."

"Maybe it's Lucy." Happy said, dodging Lucy as she tried to grab him.

"No, it came from ahead of us." Natsu stopped talking and listened again. "Whatever it is, it stopped. Let's keep going."

"I'm not sure about this." Lucy whined.

"We'll be fine." Natsu grinned. "This isn't the first time we've dealt with dragons."

"Yeah, and last time went so well." Lucy mumbled but followed after Natsu.

As they walked further into the cave the air became colder and sharper. It was so chilly that Happy landed in Lucy's arms to try to keep warm. Soon they approached the curve that Todd the Farmer spoke of. They stopped before rounding the turn.

"Ok, around this curve is where Todd saw the dragon. I'll go first and…"suddenly a loud rumbling cut Natsu off.

"Who goes there!" A deep voice came from beyond the turn. "You have ten seconds to state your business before I roast you."

"I'll handle this." Natsu said and he ran around the corner. "Hi friend, I'm…" A bright light that looked a lot like a fire blast cut off Natsu's sentence. Lucy panicked and ran out after him. When she got around the turn she found him eating the fire that was blown at him. He wiped his mouth and pouted. "That wasn't very nice. I was just about to introduce myself. I'm Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail."

Lucy took in the situation that was in front of her. Natsu grinning and waving while a massive dragon just stared at him in shock.

"What the hell?!" the Dragon grumbled.

"You asked who goes there so I answered. I'm Natsu and I'm here to talk to you." Natsu replied. He looked back and saw Lucy standing behind him. "Oh and this is Lucy and the exceed is Happy."

"You just ate my fire. You're not a crispy critter." The dragon deadpanned. "What exactly are you?"

"I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail. I was raised by Igneel until he disappeared almost 8 years ago."

"So you're Igneel's boy. That explains everything." The dragon shook his head and bared his teeth in what Lucy hoped was a smile. "You definitely have his personality. I'm Vlad, the Dark Fire Dragon. It's nice to meet you three, actually it's nice to meet some humans who don't want to hurt me."

"Wait, you know Igneel. Have you seen him?" Natsu asked, the excitement in his voice palpable.

"I've known Igneel for a long time, but it has been a long while since I've seen him." Vlad replied.

"You said human have been trying to hurt you. What happened?" Lucy asked.

"For some odd reason humans have this idea that the best way to show their strength is by killing things that are bigger than them, so naturally I am a target." Vlad shrugged. "Recently there's been a lot of dark guilds out searching for what few dragons are left, but no one know what their aim is for us. I've been moving from place to place to avoid being captured and recently found this group of caves. From my explorations, these were once inhabited by humans, but they left a long time ago. I was able to live peacefully for a while until some old man found me living here. I didn't mean to scare him off the first time, but when he came back with armed men I got angry, and rightfully so. Every time men with weapons show up, someone gets hurt and this time it was me. One of those bastards threw a spear and it got me in the eye." The dragon pointed to an eye, which they could just see in the light that it was bloody and injured. "I've never hurt anyone, but they always insist on trying to hurt me."

"Those bastards." Natsu slammed a fist into his hand. "What did they think they were doing? This is unacceptable."

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked.

"We were sent on a mission by the same village that sent the soldiers. They were supposed to do what we are doing, investigating, but it seems like they were only here to attack." Natsu began to pace.

"Natsu, I think the soldiers overreacted. I don't think that they are inherently evil, they were scared, but it doesn't excuse the fact that they injured you, Vlad." Lucy said softly. "Could you lower your head so that I can see your injured eye. I'm no healer, but I may be able to bandage it until we can find one that we can trust."

The dragon thought for a moment and then obliged.

"Yes." He rested his head on his front legs. "Thank you. I'm happy that my fire didn't work against you three. You're not bad people."

Lucy took out some water and gently poured it over the wound. She began cleaning it as carefully as possible, doing her best not to hurt the dragon.

"Do you know anything about the dark guilds rounding up dragons?" Lucy asked.

"Not much, other than that they aren't really found in this kingdom. I recently came to Fiore to get away from being hunted, but it seems like I didn't come far enough into the country." Vlad winced as Lucy put some salve onto his eye.

"Sorry," Lucy cried and tried to work more gently. "If you aren't from Fiore, where are you from?" She began bandaging his eye.

"Bosco. It is a country filled with forests, in fact, that's where I last saw Igneel. It was a nice country until the dark guilds began gaining power, now it is over-run with them. Before the dark guilds showed up, all we had to worry about was some hot-headed 'hero' trying to slay us, but now that the dark guilds are in power, the dragons that are left are being hunted down and captured. I don't know why we are being taken, but it can't be a good reason."

"Do you think Igneel could have been captured by the dark guilds?" Lucy asked.

"No." Natsu replied. "I was raised in Fiore."

"And last I saw Igneel was long before he would have been raising Natsu. In fact, it's most likely that he left Bosco and found Natsu afterwards." Vlad explained.

"Fair enough." Lucy sat back. "I'm done. How does it feel?"

"Much better. Thank you Lucy." Vlad lifted his head. "So now that you 'investigated' me what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Lucy looked at Natsu. "I can't force him to leave after he has found a peaceful place to live, at least, mostly peaceful. Do you think we can talk the village into staying away from the caves? They don't use them anymore and as long as no one bothers each other, you both can live in peace."

"I can agree to that." Vlad said.

"What if we take care of the dark guild in Bosco?" Natsu interjected. "We could do it and then you could go back to your country Vlad."

"I like that idea more." Vlad replied truthfully. "I like Fiore, but Bosco is my home. Could you do that?"

"Of course." Natsu beamed.

"Hold on Natsu, before we take on this huge mission, we need to take care of a few things." Lucy cut in.

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, confused.

"First, we need to convince the village to let Vlad stay until we take care of the dark guild. Second, we need to find someone to heal your eye. I know someone who can do it and that bring in my last point. We will need some help with this. I know you want to take care of this yourself, but this is a little bigger than the three of us. We need our team." Lucy smiled.

"But I want to fight the bad guys." Natsu pouted.

"Trust me you will, but we need Wendy to heal Vlad and we could use Erza, Gray, and the others to make sure we have this covered." Lucy reasoned. "You could even make it into a competition on who takes out the most dark guild members."

"Fine." Natsu huffed. "Will you be ok for a couple days? We have to take care of some things, but we'll be back soon with help."

"I've been fine for over 500 years. I think I can handle a couple days." Vlad smiled. "Your dad would be proud of you."

"Thanks!" Natsu beamed. "Come on Luce, let's take care of these errands so we can go kick some dark guild ass."

Author's Note: Yeah, Vlad is kinda a lame name but I couldn't think of anything and I asked my brother for a name. He came up with Dragulae and Vlad, I'm pretty sure he was watching Van Helsing or some vampire movie like that. I liked Vlad the best out of the two so I went with it. Sorry! :D


	4. Truth and Lies

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait guys, the first week back is always the hardest. I will continue to update as soon as possible, just understand, this semester is going to be a pain. As always, thank you guys for the reviews, follows, and for sticking with me through this all. Hiro Mashima owns the masterpiece that is Fairy Tail, even though he loves ripping out our hearts….anyway feel free to leave a review or comment, I'm always open to ideas. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy!**

After their goodbyes with Vlad, the trio hurried back to the town of Hakensdale. For most of the walk, they were silent, all of them lost in their own world. Lucy worried about the information that they just received.

"Dark guilds rounding up dragons? I could understand wanting all that power, but dragons seem to be proud creatures who don't listen to anyone. Wouldn't the dragons try to kill anyone who would dare to capture them?" Lucy asked.

"I'll admit dragons are proud, but the dragons that I know of don't really aim to kill humans. You're right though, dragons don't care for being captured. In fact, they hate it, so they would put up a pretty good fight." Natsu replied.

"So that means these dark guilds must have some serious power, especially if they have been successful before." Lucy commented, worry showing on her face.

Natsu looked over at her and gave her his signature grin.

"Don't worry about it Luce. We will be able to handle this when it comes time for a fight," He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "My concern is whether or not I'll beat more dark guild members than Gajeel and Gray do put together."

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed, but she smiled.

"I'm curious how the town is going to respond to the fact that the dragon is staying in the caves a little longer." Lucy pointed out.

"I don't know. I imagine that as long as they leave each other alone, there shouldn't be a problem. I still don't know if we can trust the Mayor or his soldiers."

"I know, but we still have to report back to them. We at least have to tell them to stay away from the caves for a little longer. In all honesty, if they talked to Vlad, they might be able to use him to keep the village warm while he's here. That's if they promise not to harm him."

"That's not a bad idea."

They walked on for a little longer and soon they reached the outskirts of town. Suddenly a figure stepped out from the shadows. Natsu immediately lit his fist into flame and Lucy grabbed her whip. Natsu was just pulling his fist back when the person put his hands up.

"Stop!" yelled the voice.

"Todd?" Lucy asked, lowering her weapon. "What are you doing in the shadows? You were seconds away from being cooked and beat."

"I wanted to talk to you two for a minute. Did you find anything in the caves?" Todd asked in a low voice, his eyes darting around as if looking for eavesdroppers

"We might've or we might've not," Lucy replied warily. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I may be one of your few allies here," Todd answered darkly. "I have a bad feeling about how the town may respond if the dragon is still there."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked sharply.

"I don't trust the soldiers here in this village. How much information did they give you about the incident?" Todd asked.

"Not much to be honest. It was the same story that the Mayor told us." Lucy replied, unsure.

"And who did you talk to when you met with them? Who did all of the talking?"

"We met with the captain and the other soldier, who was a new recruit. It was the inferior soldier who did all the talking." Lucy thought for a moment. "That doesn't make sense. The captain barely said anything even though he would have been in charge of the mission to begin with."

"Uh-huh. Do you see what I mean? You need to be careful about who you talk to. If at all possible, only talk to the Mayor and even then, make sure it's outside of the house in case anyone is listening in."

"Not to be rude, but why should we trust you? You've been helpful, but how do we know you aren't setting us up?"

"After you refused to answer my questions, did I press any further? If I wanted to hurt that dragon, I would have tried to force you to tell me what you learned." Todd smiled as a look of understanding crossed Natsu and Lucy's face. "I just want to live in peace and if that dragon isn't going to bother me, then I won't bother it. Good luck and let me know if I can help you with anything." Todd nodded again and left in the direction of his home.

"So what do you think of that?" Lucy asked Natsu

"I don't know, I guess we have to be careful what we tell them. We can't lie and say the dragon left, because if we do they may send soldiers up to check." Natsu scratched his head. "I don't know if we should tell them that the dragon is staying until the dark guilds in Bosco are brought down, in case there is dark guild involvement in this town."

"That's a good point. Do you think we could tell them that the dragon is still there, but we are going to need some of our guild-mates' help to take care of it?"

"I think that's our best option. Now let's go and find Mr. Mayor."

Plan in mind, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made their way to the center of town and the mayors house. Just as they were approaching the building, they heard a voice call out.

"Hello there! How did the mission go?" Mayor Plum asked. He was a few steps behind them, in his hands were bags from the shops and vendors in the village. Much to their unhappiness, the captain was with him.

"Yes, I'm very curious how far you were able to get with the creature." Said the captain.

"It went ok," Lucy replied, keeping her voice even. "Is it possible that we can discuss this matter with you in your home?"

"Of course," The mayor smiled and climbed the steps to unlock the door. "Please come in." He held the door open so they all could enter, including the captain. "Now what is there to discuss? I hope you don't mind the captain sitting in. Since he is here to protect this village, he needs to know as much about the situation as possible."

"I'm here to serve and protect the people of this village, in the name of the King." The captain explained.

"Ok," Lucy replied looking over at Natsu. Apparently it was going to be a lost cause when it came to getting the Mayor alone. "We looked into the claims of a possible dragon living in the cave. After speaking to the people involved, we went into the caves themselves. We did find evidence that points to a large dragon living in the cave, but we did not stick around long enough to deal with it. Due to our past experiences with dragons, my team is going to need a couple days to get some back-up from our guild. Once we get a larger team, we will be able to get the dragon away from the caves in the village."

"Why don't you take some of my soldiers up with you now and just kill the dragon?" asked the captain.

"Because when we took this job, we agreed with the mayor that we would only harm the dragon if it came to that." Natsu snapped. "From our investigations we determined that the dragon is not a threat to the village right now. We will get rid of the dragon, but we will do it in our own way, without your help."

"What Natsu means," Lucy started giving him a hard look that said _be quiet, let me handle this_, "is that the dragon is currently injured and is not going to harm the village anytime soon. We are asking for your word that you will not harm the dragon and that you will not go to the caves until we say it's ok. We are also asking if you would allow us to travel back to Magnolia to get more wizards to help us with this." Lucy looked into the mayor's eyes and pleaded. "Please give us three days so that we take care of this the easiest way possible. The dragon will not harm anyone as long as it is left alone."

"And how do we know that you aren't lying or running away from the problem?" Asked the captain.

"Because we are Fairy Tail wizards, and when we go on a job we are representing the guild. We would never do anything to bring dishonor to our guild." Natsu replied shortly. "What would we have to gain from leaving now? We didn't ask for any pay in advance or ask for anything from the village."

Mayor Plum thought silently for a moment.

"You have a point Mr. Natsu. Request granted, all I ask is that you return as quickly as possible." Mayor Plum said calmly.

"Thank you sir." Lucy replied. "We should be back in a few days. Once we have our full team, we should be able get rid of the dragon quickly."

"Thank you for that." Plum nodded, he stood to open the door for them. "Good luck and I'll see you in a few days." And with that Natsu, Lucy, and Happy left the Mayor's house.

Six hours later, Lucy was helping Natsu off the train in Magnolia Station while Happy flew beside them.

"I swear I will never ride any form of transporation again." Natsu mumbled, looking very green.

"You say that every time, Natsu." Happy chimed.

"Bleh." Natsu stuck out his tongue and stood up straighter. "Thanks for the help Luce. It's nice to be back in Magnolia. What time is it anyway?" He looked around at the nearly empty train station.

"It's after 9:00" Lucy said, looking over at the clock. "It's too late to go talk to everyone at the guild, so why don't we go back to the apartment?"

"You mean you're inviting us in and we don't have to break in?" Happy asked

"Yep." Lucy smiled

"Awww, you take the fun out of everything Lucy." Happy whined, his tail drooping.

"What do you mean I take the fun out of everything?" Lucy snapped

"We liked breaking in because then we felt like ninjas." Happy explained

"Yeah Luce, nin nin."Natsu cut in. Lucy looked over at Natsu, to see his scarf wrapped around his head so that you could only see his eyes. His hands were in fists, one over the other with his pointer fingers pointed up. He was in his ninja mode and Happy was right along with him. "Nin-nin."

Lucy sighed and then grinned.

"Fine, I'll be at the apartment. Feel free to break in at any time." Lucy grabbed her bag and started towards her apartment. Natsu and Happy followed behind her and kept to the shadows, out of sight. Lucy couldn't see them, but she knew that they were following to make sure she got home safe. When Lucy got to her apartment she unlocked the door to let herself in and then locked the door behind her. _It's not like they'll actually come through this door._

Lucy turned on the light half expecting the boys to already be laying in her bed, but to her surprise they were nowhere to be found.

"They did follow me home, right?" Lucy wondered aloud. "Maybe they had to get something from their place." She shrugged and quickly changed while she had a few minutes of privacy. When she came out of the bathroom, the room had changed somehow. And by changed, Lucy could just see a tip of a white tail hiding between her bed and dresser. Lucy grinned, revenge! She crept up quietly towards the foot of her bed. Once in a good position she took quiet breath and grabbed Happy and covered his mouth with her hand.

"Gotchya!" she whispered, "I'll only uncover your mouth if you promise not to yell and warn Natsu."

Happy nodded and she uncovered his mouth.

"Now tell me quietly, where is Natsu hiding?" Lucy said very seriously. Suddenly a hand grabbed her leg. Lucy let out a loud, piercing scream and fell on her butt in surprise. Natsu climbed out from underneath her bed, laughing hard and clutching his stomach.

"Lucy…that…was…great." He gasped for air while still laughing. "Who got who now?" He grinned cockily.

Lucy glared at him and accessed the situation. He was still on his hands and knees while she was sitting on the ground. She had to get back at him somehow. So she pounced.

Lucy jumped forward, effectively knocking Natsu on his back with her body. She held him down at the shoulders and grinned at the shock on his face.

"What did you just say?" Lucy grinned even bigger when his shock turned to slight annoyance as she used his words against him. "Who got who?"

"I got you." He said softly as he pecked her on the lips. Lucy froze, then grinned. It was easy to forget she was dating him, because their relationship was so close even before they started dating. She leaned back to let him up. Natsu stood up and then offered a hand to help Lucy up.

"So, we may be looking for more people to join our ninja assassin team." Natsu said looking around the room. "As much as I hate to admit it, you'd be a pretty good asset to our team, Luce. Ya interested?"

"I don't know." She teased. "How long is the application process?"

"Normally it takes weeks, but I am willing to make an exception."

"Oh alright. I guess I'll join then." Lucy smiled at him and yawned. "Just, let's save training for in the morning."

"Aye, ma'am."

Lucy climbed into bed and got nestled under the covers. After a few minutes, Natsu joined her and Happy curled up at her feet, adding to the warmth of the bed. It didn't take long for her to start falling asleep. The last thing she heard before darkness took her was Natsu chuckle as she moved closer to him and him softly say "Good Night."


	5. Small Homecoming and Preparations

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you for your patience and support. Classes are starting to fall into a pattern of when things need to get done, so I should be able to post regularly now. As always all credit goes to Hiro Mashima for creating the characters that we all love so dearly. I'm super excited to see where the manga is going from here. Please feel free to review, shoot me some ideas, or even say hi. I love hearing from you all, it literally makes my day. Anyway, thanks for following me on this adventure and enjoy the chapter.**

The next morning, when Natsu, Lucy, and Happy arrived at the guild they immediately went to their usual table to meet with their teammates. People were starting to filter into the guild. It didn't take long for the guild to become as rowdy as usual. The first of the team to arrive was Erza, with Jellal right behind her. Lucy's eyes widened in shock. _Why isn't he in his Mystogan costume? Did we miss something?_

"Hello, Lucy, Natsu, Happy. Welcome back! How did the mission go?" Erza asked sitting down at the table.

"Well, it's going, but it's a bit more complicated than we expected," Lucy replied.

"What do you mean? Isn't the job done?" asked a new voice, it was Gray and Juvia.

"Not exactly," Lucy explained. "Do you guys know what the mission was?"

They shook their heads no.

"All we knew was that you guys made up and that you left for a job right after Christmas." Gray said.

"Ok, the job was to deal with a dragon that was living too close to a village. We went thinking that it would have something to do with Igneel…."Lucy began.

"What did you say about Igneel?" Wendy asked, walking towards the group. "Did you find information about our parents?"

"If this involves the dragons, then maybe I should hear this too," Gajeel growled, sitting down on the other side of Juvia.

"That's where we are having a problem. Apparently the country of Bosco is overrun with dark guilds who are capturing dragons for some reason," Lucy explained.

"Does that mean Grandeeney, Metalicana and Igneel are in trouble?" Wendy worried, her fear palpable.

"We don't know," Natsu replied, "but we have every intention on finding out what's going on. That's why we came back, Lucy thought it would be a good idea if we had back up if we're gonna take on a bunch of dark guilds, even though I could handle them myself."

"Oh yeah, Salamander?" Gajeel growled. "Ya think you're so tough, why don't you take me right now?"

"Hell yeah!" Natsu yelled, jumping up from the table.

"Knock it off, both of you," Erza said sharply, glaring at the two dragon slayers. "This isn't the time. Lucy, who told you this information about the dragons being captured."

"When we investigated the dragon itself, we found a real dragon, Vlad the Dark Fire Dragon. He is from Bosco, but he left the country when the dark guilds started rounding up the other dragons. He knew Igneel before Igneel raised Natsu," Lucy explained. "He is very kind and peaceful. He just wants to live in peace, but both the dark guilds and the town aren't allowing him to do so. We were hoping that you guys would help deal with the dark guilds and rescue the other dragons," Lucy looked at the small crowd that was currently sitting at the table with them.

"Will you help us?" Lucy asked.

"Of course! Jellal and I will help you," Erza looked over at her newly freed man and blushed, confusing Lucy.

"Juvia and I got your back," Gray grinned.

"If it has to do with the dragons, I guess I could lend a hand. Not that I care about whatever happened to them," Gajeel crossed his arm and looked away, while Levy shook her head and chuckled at his stubbornness.

"What about me Lucy?" asked Wendy. "I know I'm small, but I'd like to help. Especially if it will help find Grandeeney."

"Actually, we were hoping you would want to come along. Vlad was injured by the soldiers and it would be great if you could heal him," Lucy replied.

"I'd love to!" Wendy's eye sparkled with excitement.

"Alright team!" Lucy stood up. "Let's meet at the train station around 2:00 this afternoon. We need to get back as soon as possible and it's a long ride there. Thank you for your help everyone!"

"It's no problem," Gray grinned again. "It'll be a fun challenge."

"Oh, speaking of which, Gray, Gajeel," Natsu stood on the table again. "I challenge you both to a competition. I bet that I can defeat more enemies than either of you."

"Oh yeah?" Gray said, "I accept your challenge. Losers have to play the punishment game to the winner."

"You're on, pervy popsicle." Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Gajeel, what about you? Too chicken?"

"I'm in! I ain't scared of nothin'. You'll both be bowing to me by the end of this," Gajeel shot back cockily.

"All right! Now I'm all fired up!" Natsu smiled. "This is going to be fun!"

A few hours later, Natsu and Lucy arrived at Magnolia Station to meet the rest of the group. Gray and Juvia were already there, sitting at a bench talking to Wendy and Carla. Lucy looked around the train station and could see Jellal pulling Erza's mountain of luggage while Erza walked beside him with a backpack. _I'll have to ask her what happened that Jellal is now allowed to be out in the open._

"Hello," Erza called. "Are we ready to leave for Hakensdale?"

"I think so, but where's Gajeel and Lily?" Lucy asked scanning the station.

"We're coming Lu-chan!" a new voice yelled.

"Levy? I didn't know you were coming along," Lucy ran over and hugged her friend. "You need to tell me what happened after you left the guild on Christmas," She whispered.

Levy blushed a little bit and smiled.

"Don't worry Luce, I'll update you on all you missed if you update me on what happened with you," Levy nodded in Natsu's direction.

"Deal," Lucy shook her hand, causing both of them to laugh.

"Did I miss something?" Gajeel appeared behind Levy and lifted a metal eye brow in confusion. This just caused the girls to laugh harder. Gajeel shook his head and walked away towards the train.

"Aw, Gajeel. Don't be mad," Levy chuckled. "I'll meet you on the train." She grinned at Lucy and ran after Gajeel.

Lucy joined Natsu and Happy on the platform, still smiling from talking to Levy.

"You boys ready to go?" Lucy asked.

"Yep. We were just waiting for you," Natsu smiled. "Let's get going Luce. I'm all fired up."

Unfortunately for Natsu, he didn't stay all fired up for long. Luckily, Wendy was able to troia on both Natsu and Gajeel as the train set off from the station. It took the edge off of their motion sickness for a while, but eventually both of them fell asleep to help. This freed up Levy and Lucy to talk without having to keep secrets.

"So what did I miss after I left?" Lucy asked, playing with Natsu's hair as he snored on her lap.

"Well, Gajeel and I are officially dating," Levy blushed, causing Lucy to grin evilly. "Nothing happened! But we are now dating and have been out for dinner already."

"Aw, Levy!" Lucy smiled. "What about Jellal and Erza?"

"That was a surprise to everyone. I didn't see it happen, but apparently Jellal was pardoned by the council and is now a free man. Now Jellal and Erza don't have to hide any more. Everyone's really excited for them," Levy explained. "Oh and Gray and Juvia are now together, too. They went on a date a few days ago. Erza and I helped get her ready. Gajeel won't admit it, but I know he spied on them to make sure Gray was a gentleman."

"That's so sweet."

"I know! Now that I updated you on everything, it's your turn to tell me what happened between you and Natsu," Levy grinned. "I saw him find you at the dance, but I left after that."

"He asked me to dance and then apologized for the fight. We made up and he kissed me. He also got me this beautiful necklace," She pulled it up from underneath her shirt. "The one that I wanted to get when we went dress shopping, but it was gone when we got there," Lucy smiled at the memory. "After that we went to my place and I gave him the statue of Igneel. Soon after we left for the mission."

"Lu-chan, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, I'm really happy for all of us. Things are really working out well. I'm excited to meet Igneel and the other dragons."

"I just hope Metalicana approves of me."

"Of course he will! You're Gajeel's 'shrimp'." Lucy teased

"Thanks, Lucy." Levy made a face at her, causing Lucy to laugh and Levy joined in with her.

After a few minutes they quieted and began facing the reality of what they were up against.

"Do you think we can defeat, basically a government all by ourselves?" Levy asked. "It's not that I doubt our strength, especially since we have such a big group now, but we are taking on a lot here."

"I think we can do it. We're Fairy Tail, the strongest guild and we've combined some of our strongest members to create an even stronger team. Fairy Tail has always stood up against dark guilds and this isn't the first time we've gone to take them out with a smaller group. We did the same with Oracion Seis."

"I know, but that's not the only thing I'm worried about. I'm also worried if something goes wrong and we can't get the dragons back…."Levy trailed off and looked away.

"I understand," Lucy admitted, "But I have to have faith in the dragons that they've survived and that we can rescue them. I won't give up."

"I can see how Natsu's influenced you," Levy teased. "You sound exactly like him."

"Shut it," Lucy did her best to hide her smile. "Don't worry, I won't start destroying things out of boredom like he does." Lucy yawned and stretched the best she could without disturbing Natsu's sleeping form. "We ought to be at Hakendale soon."

"What's the plan Lucy?" Erza approached the two girls with Gray a few steps behind.

"We should probably check into a tavern for the night and then start investigating tomorrow. We'll probably split into teams too, but we can figure that out later."

"Good thinking," Erza nodded approvingly. "How much longer until we arrive at the station?"

"About a half hour, if you want to start getting ready."

"Okay. Thanks Luce." Gray smiled and went back to Juvia.

True to Lucy's word, it didn't take long for them to feel the train begin to slow and eventually come to a stop. Within seconds Natsu popped up and stretched.

"That was a nice nap!" he grinned. "Ready to take on some dark guilds?"

"Hell yeah!" Yelled Gajeel getting up.

"Calm down, boys. There won't be any fighting tonight." Erza crossed her arms.

"That's what you think," a deep voice growled and then the lights on the train went off.

**Author's Note: Yeah, I know, that was mean to do a cliff hanger, but…makes it more interesting. See ya's next week!**


	6. Explosions and Jail Cells

**Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long. I had this really big group project that kinda took up all of my time. I don't know about you but I hate group projects. Anyway….here is the next chapter of Chasing Dragons. As always, I own nothing and all credit goes to the man, the myth, the legend Hiro Mashima! I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, and feel free to review, comment, or send ideas. Thanks for reading!**

Natsu was the first to spring into action by sending a blast of fire in the direction of the voice. After that all hell broke loose. From the glow of the magic attacks that were flying in all directions, Lucy could see that both exits of the train were blocked by enemies and that they were outnumbered.

"Watch your back guys, we're surrounded!" Lucy yelled over the fray.

"Solid Script: Light!" Levy yelled, causing the words to appear in the air and create a dim light.

With the sudden illumination, Lucy was able to see everyone's positions. Gray and Juvia were facing the same direction as her and Natsu using their magic to wash away and freeze the incoming wizards. Erza and Jellal were back to back using their powers to keep some of the wizards at bay. Gajeel and Lily had jumped into the fray and were using their own swords, or in Gajeel's case his arm, to knock back the wizards. Wendy was using her support magic to help keep everyone's strength up and Levy was using her magic to keep the light going while sending some offensive spells in the direction of the enemy mages.

"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Lucy summoned with her key.

"Yo Lucy! What's up?" Leo sweet talked. "How about we…." The flash of a magic strike flew past his head, cutting off the conversation.

"How about we talk after we take out some of these guys?" Lucy asked, while pulling out her whip.

"Gotcha!" Leo grinned while jumping into the battle next to Natsu.

The battle was extremely intense. Everyone was fighting as hard as they could and Team Fairy Tail seemed to be started to get the upper hand. The team was slowly moving towards opposite ends of the train and it was looking like the battle was going to be over soon.

"Keep going everyone!" Erza called. "They're starting to fall back."

Lucy looked around and saw that she was right, what few dark wizards were left were starting to retreat. Unfortunately, it wasn't for the reasons they believed. Team Fairy Tail continued with their offensive until the only enemy on the train was the deep voiced wizard who spoke earlier.

"I don't know who you are, but it would be in your best interest to give up now or retreat." Erza growled scarily.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be leaving, but I figured I'd go out with a bang." Deep Voice laughed while lobbing a pulsing lacrima into the middle of the train. "I'll see you all very soon. Good luck." He laughed again and ran off of the train into the darkness.

"What the hell is that?" Natsu asked slowly approaching the pulsing lacrima. Realization donned on Lucy, but it was too late. Just as Natsu was reaching for it, the lacrima exploded.

"Ah man, my head's killin' me." Natsu groaned sitting up. "What the hell happened?" He looked around and saw the flaming ball that was the train. "Holy crap!"

"That creep threw a bomb lacrima and decimated the train." Gray replied, climbing to his feet and helping Juvia up.

"Is everyone ok?" Wendy yelled, running over to the group.

"I think so." Jellal said while he limped over to Erza, who was sitting up too.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Erza asked.

"Levy, Lily and I are here." Gajeel growled as he picked up Levy who was protesting.

"Put me down! I'm fine!" Levy snapped, her face white and her arm lying at an awkward angle.

"Yeah, ok." Gajeel snorted. "Not until I can have Wendy check out your arm."

"But my legs are fine." Levy shot back.

"No way in hell Shrimp. Wendy when you have a chance can you please look at Levy's arm." Gajeel asked, patient for a change.

"Sure, I'll check out everyone's injuries as soon as everyone is accounted for." Wendy replied calmly. "Is anyone missing?"

Natsu looked around.

Erza and Jellal were both on their feet along with Gray and Juvia. Levy and Gajeel were coming towards the group, still arguing. Happy was helping Carla up. The only one Natsu could see was….

"Oh no." Natsu muttered softly. "Has anyone seen Lucy?" Natsu asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Lu-chan? No I thought she was with you." Levy replied, fear in her voice.

Natsu scrambled to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his ankle.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu yelled. "Where are you? Can you hear me? Lucy!" Natsu searched frantically around him.

"Do you think she's still on the train?" Erza asked worriedly.

"I'll check the train, the fire won't bother me. You guys look around in the rubble." Natsu commanded as he ran to the train, ignoring his ankle.

Natsu climbed into the train and began searching frantically through the flames.

"Lucy! Are ya in here?" Natsu called. From where he was standing he couldn't see anyone on the train, but that didn't relieve any of his fear. He walked deeper into the burning train, eating the flames that came to close. On the outside of the train, Juvia began using her water magic to fight the fire.

"Lucy, can ya hear me? Lucy! If you can hear me, try to make a sound so I can find you!" Natsu screamed. He waited but he didn't hear anything. "Lucy!"

Natsu searched the car frantically, but to no avail. Lucy wasn't on the train car. Natsu climbed out of the smoldering car and joined the rest of the team in searching the rubble. Natsu was just about to give up hope, when Gray yelled out.

"Hey guys, I found someone!"

Natsu ran with all his strength to where Gray was standing. He could make out the shape of a person covered in soot and half buried by the rubble. Natsu, Gray and Gajeel began digging through the rubble until the person was free. Unfortunately the person that they found wasn't Lucy.

"Thank you guys for helping me," The stranger coughed, putting his hand out to thank his rescuer, but Natsu was having none of it. Instead Natsu put a hand around the stranger's throat.

"I recognize you. You are the soldier that we talked to a few days ago. The one who attacked the dragon. Who are you and what's been done with Lucy?" Natsu growled savagely.

"I don't know. We were given the order to stop you guys from saving that dragon, there was no command about taking any prisoners." The soldier choked as Natsu tightened his grip.

"You aren't helping your case, bud." Gray warned him. "Natsu cut it out. He may have an idea of where Lucy may be, he won't be any use to us dead."

Natsu glared at Gray, but released the soldier.

"Now you are going to tell us everything you know, or you will most definitely die." Natsu growled.

"Fine! We're members of the guild The Bosco Covenant. There was a group of us stationed in Fiore to watch the boarder for dragons. We would have had the dragon captured if that idiot mayor didn't send out a job request. The Captain tried talking him out of it, but no, he wanted a trained dragon slayer to take care of it, if only he knew." The soldier trailed off.

"You mean to tell me that you are real dragon slayers?" Natsu screamed. "What, are the lives of others a game to you? What gives you the right to kill dragons?"

"First of all, what gives you the right to lecture me for attacking dragons, dragon slayer? You're magic is used for the same purpose." The soldier snapped. "Second, I'm not killing them, per se, I'm capturing them for our purposes."

"I don't care if you're not the one killing them, capturing them to be killed is just as bad!" Natsu screamed. "I've never harmed a dragon, I learned this magic from my father Igneel!"

"Enough Natsu! This is getting us nowhere!" Erza yelled. "Now, you might want to tell us where the rest of your men went, or things will end up very unpleasant for you." Erza growled.

The soldier visibly gulped.

"You…you won't kill me. You guys still need me." He whined.

"You're right, we still need you alive, but we don't need all of you. I'm not above roughing you up until you tell us where we need to go."

"Fine! I give." The soldier surrendered. "You can find our headquarters in Bosco forest."

"Well, well, well, looks as though we have an informant." A new voice called.

"You!" Natsu yelled. "Where did you take Lucy?"

"This young man wasn't lying, she's on her way back to our guild." Deep Voice replied calmly. "Unfortunately, even though he is now an honest man, he's still a rat."

"Captain please, don't do it! I'm sorry!" The soldier screamed.

"You know what we do with rats? We poison them, but we are merciful so that it is a quick death. They stop breathing and then it's over." The Captain explained as if talking to children. As he spoke, the soldier began to turn blue.

"Please, I beg you….please…stop." The soldier gasped, but the Captain merely shrugged.

"Good bye, young man. Thank you for your service." He clenched his fist, and it was over.

"You killed your own guild mate." Natsu spoke in disbelief. "How could you do that to your comrade?"

"He was a simple peon. Very replaceable." The Captain shrugged. "Anyway, I must be going. I have a guest to attend to, quite a pretty guest to be exact."

"If you hurt one hair on her head, I'll kill you." Natsu growled dangerously.

The Captain merely smirked.

"I'd like to see you try. Good luck." The Captain snapped his fingers and was gone.

"I'll kill you!" Natsu screamed and ran after the Captain, but before he could get far, Gray tackled him.

"Let me go, Gray!" Natsu yelled, as he tried to push Gray off.

"No! We're all worried about Lucy and we're just as angry as you are, but we need to be smart about this." Gray tried reasoning with him. "It sounds like they're using Lucy as bait, so as long as we don't do anything stupid, they will keep her alive. Plus, Lucy's a tough chick, she'll be able to take care of herself."

"Gray's right." Erza conceded. "Lucy will be fine until we get there. Right now we need to go speak with the Mayor and get some information so we aren't blindly walking into Bosco. We will get Lucy back, Natsu, just believe in us and believe in her."

Natsu stopped struggling, his bangs were in his eyes so that they were covered and dark.

"Can we let you up now without you taking off?" Gray asked.

"Yeah." Natsu replied, deadly quiet.

Gray stood up and Natsu climbed to his feet. Natsu looked off towards the mountains and glared so angrily that the Team was surprised that the mountains didn't run away.

"When we get to save Lucy, I will be the one to take on the Captain, understand?" Natsu said dangerously.

"Fine, as long as you play it smart in the process and don't get yourself killed, do what you need to." Erza conceded. "Just remember, Lucy needs you just as much as you need her."

Natsu only nodded in reply.

"Well then, that was enough excitement for the night. I think it's time we visit, Mr. Mayor." Jellal cut in. "It's time we find out what he knows of the situation."

The first thing Lucy noticed as she started to come to was that it was cold and whatever she was lying on wasn't helping. Lucy slowly opened her eyes. From the looks of her surroundings she was in a dungeon, like one of the dungeons that you would find in the basement of a castle. Unfortunately she had experience with dungeons and prison cells, so she knew that there wasn't much she could do until an ally showed up.

Lucy sat up and rubbed her head, trying to remember how this situation occurred. She remembered the battle and how a bomb was thrown into the middle of the train by a person with a deep voice. A deep voice that was oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it. After the explosion, she remembered waking up and seeing a person approach her chanting some spell, then…nothing.

_It must have been a sleeping spell. I don't understand the point in taking me, though, _Lucy thought to herself. She sighed. _Well I better see if I can find a way out._ She stood up slowly, wary of the fact that as she moved, it felt like the world was moving too. _Great, a concussion. Just what I need right now._

She made her way to the barred door of her cell. Lucy tried to look around, but all she could see in the low torch light was other cells.

"Well, it's nice to see our princess awake." A voice spoke from behind her making her jump. "Your pet dragon slash knight in shining armor isn't too thrilled, about you missing, it's quite amusing actually."

Lucy turned and glared at the person in the cell. It was the leader of the dark wizards from the train. His mask was still on, but Lucy could hear the grin in his voice.

"What do you want? Where and why did you take me? What did you do to Natsu?" Lucy yelled. She reached down to grab her keys, but only connected with air.

"Do you think we are really that stupid to leave you, a powerful celestial wizard, with your keys?" Deep Voice cocked his head to the side. "To answer your questions, we brought you to our guild's headquarters, we just want entertainment and power, and finally, I haven't done anything to Natsu yet."

"What do you mean by yet?" Lucy snapped. "You try anything against him and he will destroy you along with the rest of your guild."

"Oh, I don't doubt that he'll try. We just took you to ensure that he finds us. Like I said we want entertainment, and he is going to be our main show. You are the guest of honor and he will be our jester."

"What do you mean by show? What are you talking about?"

"All in good time Princess, everything will become clear soon. In the meantime, sit down and relax, we'll keep you alive. It won't be long until the rest of our players appear."

"I swear if you hurt them, I will destroy you!"

"Man, I can see how you two are together, you're exactly alike!" Deep voice said with mock exasperation. "Anyway, I must be going. If I were you I'd follow my advice and relax or it's going to be a long couple of days." And with those words, the stranger disappeared.

Lucy slid down the wall and sat down. She wasn't going to give up. She'd find a way out of here, and she was going to make sure that none of her friends were injured in the process. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

**Author's Note: Hi guys! I hope this chapter makes up for my long absence. Hopefully that won't happen again, but no promises. To make up for the break you should be getting two chapters in the next two weeks because I'll be on spring break! FREEDOM! Thanks again for reading! Until next time…**


	7. Disbelief and Begrudging Acceptance

**Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry the chapter is late again, I got caught up with stuff at home. Hopefully I will be able to get another chapter out this weekend. No guarantees, but I'll do my best. As always, that you for your continued support. I am happy that so many people are enjoying the story. Feel free to review, comment, or make suggestions. I love hearing from you guys. With that said, enjoy the new chapter.**

**All credit goes to Hiro Mashima.**

It was around midnight when Natsu and the others got to the mayor's house. Natsu lead them to the house, but before he had the chance to knock, Erza stopped him.

"Let me take care of this." Erza offered. "I know you and Lucy were the ones dealing with the mayor before, but we need to be careful how we do this. We don't know how much the mayor knows about the Bosco Covenant. He might be innocent. We have to play this out right."

"Ok," Natsu nodded. "But if he proves to be an enemy, I get to take over.

"Deal." Erza said, turning to the door.

"Mayor Plum!" She yelled while knocking loudly. "There was an incident involving your soldiers and the train, we need to speak to you immediately."

Much to their annoyance, there was no response from inside the building. Erza knocked louder.

"Mayor! I know it's late, but this is an emergency! Please answer your door, it's urgent!" She yelled again.

Once again, there was only silence in response. This angered Natsu greatly.

"It's my turn." Natsu growled, stepping forward. "Plum, answer this door now or I'll break it down!"

Silence.

"You have to the count of 3! 1…..2…..3!" Just as Natsu was going to kick the door in, Gajeel stopped him.

"Did you hear that?" Gajeel whispered.

"Huh?" Natsu stepped back and looked at Gajeel in confusion.

"Listen carefully, I could just barely hear it. It sounds like someone is trying to speak, but it's very faint and muffled."

Natsu closed his eyes and listened. To his surprise Gajeel was right, there was very faint noise coming from inside the house.

"You're right. Someone is in there and they are awake."

"I hear it too!" Wendy whispered, opening her eyes.

"Should we still go in?" Levy asked. "It could be a trap."

"I don't think it's a trap," Jellal replied, "at least I don't think the mayor is setting a trap. Think about it logically. If it was a trap, there would either be no sound at all or it would be louder so that we could all hear it."

"That does make sense." Gray nodded. "Good thinking. It could still be dangerous, but if we are smart about it we could…"

Gray's though was cut off by a crash as Natsu kicked the door down and ran into the mayor's house.

"So much for that idea." Gray sighed.

Erza and Gray were the first two into the building after Natsu, with the rest of the group following close behind. The house was dark and Natsu was nowhere to be seen, though they could hear him crashing about what they believed was the living room.

"Natsu get back here and be quiet." Erza whispered.

"What does it matter Erza, if it's a trap then they already heard us coming." Gray stated, his irritation palpable.

"It would be better if we moved through the house as a group than going on our own." Erza shot back quietly. "Natsu get in here now."

"Fine." Natsu reappeared into the hallway.

"Now, can you still hear any muffled noise?" Erza asked.

Natsu closed his eyes and listened again.

"Yeah, it's coming from upstairs." Natsu opened his eyes and turned to face the staircase. "I can lead us to where the sound is coming from."

"Good. Please take us there, but move slowly, just in case there are any surprises."

Natsu complied with her command and started up the stairs. The noise led them a room at the end of a long hallway that matched the hall that was on the floor below. A low light was shining from the cracks around the door. They stopped outside of the room and without speaking they split into two teams outside on either side of the door way. Erza held up her hand and counted down, 3…2…1.

They burst through the doorway to find the mayor bound and gagged in a chair. Natsu scanned the room and could not see nor scent another person in the room. While Erza, Jellal, and Gray searched the room, more thoroughly, Levy, Wendy, and Juvia went to check on the mayor.

"Mr. Mayor are you ok?" Wendy asked as she removed the gag.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you. Some crazy men dressed in black came in and tied me up. Their voices sounded familiar, but I don't know who they were." Mayor Plum explained frantically as the girls untied him. "Thank you for freeing me. I was trying to yell for you to come in, but with the gag it was hard to speak."

"Understandable." Erza said. "Now you said you were attacked by some people in black? Did you catch or understand anything they were saying?"

"Yes, they said something about the dragon, orders, and stopping the meddling wizards. Like I said, they sounded familiar, but I can't place them." Mayor Plum looked around to the wizards. "Now that I can see you guys more clearly, you guys look a little rough. What happened?"

"The Bosco Covenant happened, that's what." Natsu replied shortly.

"The Bosco what?"

"The Bosco Covenvant." Erza explained patiently. "Apparently they are a dark guild from the bordering country of Bosco. They've been acting as soldiers in town for the past couple months. They are under the orders of the Commander."

"The Commander? That's impossible! He's been nothing but loyal and trustworthy since he and his men have arrived here. He's a good soldier and an even better man!"

"I know this seems very hard to believe considering we are strangers, but you need to believe us!" Erza replied. "He led his men to attack us at the train station."

"I don't believe you!" Mayor Plum shot back hotly.

"Well, better believe us 'cause we're telling the truth!" Natsu yelled. "He and a group of his men attacked our train as it arrived in the station. We were able to fight back against the soldiers, but he blew up the train. He took Lucy and killed one of his own men. If you want we can check the barracks and see if anyone is still there. Even better we can take you to the train station to see what's left of the train, I'm pretty sure the soldier's body is still there!"

"Natsu that's enough!" Erza cut him off. "I believe he got the point." She cleared her throat. "Mr. Mayor, I know that this is hard to believe, but everything Natsu just said is true. The Bosco Covenant has been capturing dragons and killing them. When Natsu and Lucy came to investigate they knew their time was limited, especially since they went back to Magnolia for backup. They attacked our train and took one of our guild members. I'm very sorry to be reporting this to you, but it's true."

"I understand." Plum lowered his head. "I'm sorry for all of this mess. The Commander didn't want me to send out a request for help with the dragon, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt, that's why I asked for wizards. Now that I think about it, if you guys are really telling the truth, then it makes sense, why he didn't want any extra help."

"We are telling the truth." Natsu replied hotly.

"I know, it's just hard to believe." Plum sighed. "I'd say let's check the barracks, but I know what I'll find there and I don't want to waste your time."

"Well, thanks for that." Natsu muttered under his breath, causing Erza to elbow him.

"What can I do to help you?" Plum asked.

"Can you give us any extra information about the soldiers that were stationed here?" Jellal asked. "Any accents or anything out of the ordinary?"

"You know what? They did have a slight Bosconian accent and were good with forestry, but I associated that with living on the boarder." Mayor Plum shook his head. "Like I said, they were trust worthy and I never doubted them for a second. I'm very sorry."

"It's ok." Jellal rested a hand on the mayor's soldier. He looked to Natsu and Erza. "What should we do?"

"The only thing we can do," Erza shrugged, "we go on to Bosco. The soldier said that their headquarters was in Bosco Forest. We can start there."

"Wait!" Wendy cut in. "Shouldn't we go check the cave to see if Vlad is still there or if he was captured? If he's still there we can ask him if he knows anything about the forest and if he's gone, there might be clues."

"Good thinking Wendy." Carla smiled at her.

"Yes, nicely done." Erza nodded in approval. She looked out the window and frowned at the darkness. "Natsu, with it being so late, will we be able to find our way to the cave in this darkness?"

"We can get torches! Every minute we waste here is another minute that those bastards could be hurting Lucy." Natsu all but shouted.

"I know, but I don't think it's a good idea to go charging in blindly. If they know we are here for the dragon, they could be lying in wait for us. As it is, you're still limping. I don't think Wendy every got the chance to look at your ankle. We should stop for now and move on at first light. I'm just as anxious to find Lucy, but we can't save her if we are captured ourselves." Erza reasoned.

Natsu sighed.

"Fine, but I'm leaving at first light for the cave whether you're with me or not."

"Don't worry, we're all with you." Erza said softly. "Come on. Let's find a place to stay. The sooner we get some rest, the sooner we'll be ready to leave."

**Author's Note: I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I know it wasn't very actiony (I don't think that's a word, oh well), but the action is coming. Let me know if anyone is too ooc and I'll do my best to fix it. Thanks for the read! Until next time.**


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